Ignore Financial Distractions

Small birds swoop constantly at my head every time I mow my backyard. My wife is astonished I can just ignore them. I just shrugged my shoulders, and explained I know they’re not going to actually hit me, and I have a job to do and I want to complete it as quickly as possible. Imagine how much longer it would take me to mow my lawn if I would alter my course every time they came near me? I just keep mowing in my straight lines.

We can all take a lesson from these swooping birds and learn to ignore the distractions that come at us every day in life that might cause us to stray from our financial and economic plan.

Don’t Worry What Others Have

This is the classic, “keeping up with the Jones’s.” If you neighbor suddenly has a shiny new boat in his driveway it’s easy to wonder how someone with a seemingly similar income can afford something you cannot. You don’t know what his financial situation is, but you know yours. Don’t be distracted by the light reflecting off your neighbor’s boat, continue to live within your means.

Don’t Worry What Others Earn

You see someone else get promoted at work before you. You think you do just as good of work, yet you don’t get promoted. It’s easy to complain about your job and your lack of advancement. Before doing something rash such as demanding a raise or switching jobs, think about how much you like your job and how it supports your family. If warranted, your time will come.

Ignore Financial Yardsticks

There is no shortage of articles telling you how much you should have saved for retirement at each age. It’s impossible to create numbers that fit every single person. They are not one size fits all. Everyone is unique in the kind of lifestyle they want to live, cost of living, changes in the economy in the next 40 years, etc. Instead, work with a financial planner to come up with your personalized plan and work to achieve the goals you set for yourself.

Ignore the Fads

Sell all your stuff, buy a tiny house, live on rice and berries. Whatever the fad of the month might be, ignore it. You know your goals and have a plan to achieve them. If something seems too good to be true, or in some cases if it seems downright crazy, it probably is.

When trying to achieve your financial goals, distractions are going to constantly swoop at your head, trying to get you to alter your course. Ignore them, and keep going on the path you know is right.

How about you, EOD Nation, have you ever been distracted and coaxed away from the path to your financial goals? Did it work out, or was it the wrong choice?

One Response to “Ignore Financial Distractions”

Good advice. I used to run a route in the early pre-dawn mornings and at one spot bats would swoop down and fly right into my face. It scared the living daylights out of me! I finally figured out they were attracted to the radar return they were getting off of the cord to my earphones I was listening through. The cord was flopping around and they were picking it up as some kind of big moth or something. I had to start putting the earbuds in my pocket until I was past that spot and they left me alone after that. I maybe could have ignored birds but bats, Yikes!

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Hello and welcome toEnemy of Debt! I founded EOD in April of 2008 in an effort to motivate and inspire financial discipline by focusing on behavior and truth. By teaching personal responsibility, debt free principles, and the importance of planning, people can learn how to take control of their finances one step at a time. I want to help! :)